Justice League was perhaps the biggest disappointment in the recent years for comic book fans. We expected carnage, we expected heroism, we wanted the age of heroes, the epic universe that Zack Snyder promised us in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Man of Steel. But we got chaotic abomination plagued with reshoots and other abundant problems. This movie was supposed to be DC’s big entry in the extended universe. It was supposed to substantiate their position in the movie industry.

The movie was supposed to show the audiences and competition alike that DC is not here to play. It was to be the epitome of what a superhero movie should be. The real product, however, was a disappointment. Moving forward from the initial release (and the subsequent backlash from fans) information surfaced that the Snyder cut was still out there.

Disappointed and beaten by the theatrical cut the fandom bound together and requested the studio to release that version of the movie. But our requests landed on deaf ears, as Warner Brothers buried the Snyder cut under a string of rumors (unwatchable, too many twists, too much information, too gritty, too dark, makes no sense, incomplete, dark) and a plethora of legal formalities and red tape. We tried, and we cried but to no avail. We received nothing, nada. Warner brothers failed us. But where the studio backed out, the former director came to our rescue.

Snyder recently released some stills from his version of Justice League. The stills reek of the authenticity that the theatrical cut of Justice League lacked. Not only that, eagle-eyed fans also located a very substantial easter egg in one of the stills that acts as a major callback to Batman V Superman: Dawn of justice.

As is readily apparent in this still from the Snyder cut of the Justice League, we see Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne deep in conversation with Jeremy Irons’ Alfred. What’s interesting to note in this still from the Snyder cut is the background. We see that Bruce Wayne and Alfred stand beside the suit Batman used in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice to battle Cavill’s Superman. This is groundbreaking for we had no semblance of the fact that this suit of Batman would make an appearance in Justice League. What does this mean? Just what in God’s name was Snyder planning.

Now, the reality that we as the fandom of the comic book movies must accept the fact that we are never going to witness the original plan of Zack Snyder for the DCEU realized on screen. However, that does not mean that we as the fandom of comic book movies cannot speculate every time a new piece of information is unearthed on social media/internet. It is quite the way for the director of the ideal superhero movie that never was to share information with fans. It is a callback to a better time for movies, a time when there was some hope for the DC extended universe. Now only despair dwells where there once was hope and the fandom has collectively mourned the death of a movie franchise that was pegged to be epic beyond proportions.

But the question today is that what in God’s name was the role of this suit of Kryptonian technology in Justice League, or was there any significance to it at all. I don’t know what Snyder was planning, but I can make a calculated and educated guess. It seems that Snyder was planning to roll out the Batman’s Superman Buster in the fight against Steppenwolf. We could’ve seen the Batman brood atop a defeated Steppenwolf and then get destroyed by Darkseid. Oh, what aspirations! The thought of a proper Batman taking on the generals of Darkseid makes the fandom scream out with joy. But it never was, and now looking at the current state of the DCEU it seems it never will be.

The next installment in the DC extended universe collection of movies is going to be Aquaman. What does James Wan hold for us in his brilliant mind? We shall find out soon enough. Let’s hope DC will prove us wrong with the next string of movies it decides to unveil.